GRAND RAPIDS (WZZM) - A Grand Rapids-based company is getting $1.25 million in investments from Grand Rapids area angel investors to grow its business in software development.

Blue Medora is a software development company specializing in the development, implementation, and support of software products for the enterprise systems management marketplace. The Start Garden is investing $500,000 into the company and Grand Angels is investing another $750,000.

Start Garden offers entrepeneurs $5,000 at the early stages of development of a business or product and then increases over time if the business grows. Start Garden has also been working with later stage companies as well, like Blue Medora.

According to Nathan Owen, founder of Blue Medora, Fortune 500 companies around the world depend on Oracle and IBM software to run enormously complex operations. The data generated from these robust systems can create a secondary problem: which data is meaningful to make informed decisions? Blue Medora provides a much-needed solution for those tasked with navigating complex environments to make decisions.

"Start Garden is designed to close the funding gap between $0-$500,000 for startup companies," says Rick DeVos, founder of Start Garden. "We're known for providing very early support to projects that are not even considered startups. With the Blue Medora investment, we invested aggressively into seasoned entrepreneurs already working in a space with huge potential that they know very well. It's the aggression to jump on opportunities, whether it's $5,000 or $500,000, which is vital to making our region a great place for entrepreneurs."

Grand Angels is a West Michigan-based angel investment group of 44 members which invests in early stage companies in Michigan. "We are pleased to partner with Start Garden on this investment in Blue Medora and look forward to partnering with them in more deals in the future," says Jody Vanderwel, President of Grand Angels. Information on the application process for Grand Angels can be found on their website, www.grandangels.org .